In Offenburg, Germany, a monument to the humble potato proclaims: "To God and Francis Drake, who brought to Europe for the everlasting benefit of the poor -- the Potato."

Actually, it isn't Francis Drake, but Spanish explorers who get the credit for introducing the versatile root crop to Europe. The starchy tuber, a native of the Peruvian Andes, was brought from South America to Europe in the 16th century. Europeans ate it up.

Introduced in North America about 1700, potatoes today are a $230 million crop in the United States. In Minnesota, which ranks seventh in U.S. production, farmers last year planted 79,000 acres of red, white and russet potatoes. Most ended up at food processing plants, where they became french fries, chips, hash browns and other spudly delights.

Only about eight percent of the crop is grown for the fresh table market. But within that niche market, "There's huge demand for a nice, high-quality, little potato -- the kind of potato we used to throw away," says extension specialist Rudy Radke of North Dakota State University.

Washed, sorted, and packed like orchard apples, spuds weighing under six ounces bring prices of $9 to $25 cwt., says Radke. That's two to four times the price of potatoes grown for processing.

Like most commodities, potatoes go through a price cycle. In 1996, for example, excess supply pushed the fresh market down sharply. Still, "Historically, potato prices have been decent," says Belgrade producer Mark Herickhoff. Early red potatoes show a five-year average price of $10.56 cwt., he says.